איוב לד

Elihu said in reply:

Listen, O wise men, to my words;
You who have knowledge, give ear to me.

For the ear tests arguments
As the palate tastes food.

Let us decide for ourselves what is just;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.

For Job has said, “I am right;
God has deprived me of justice.

I declare the judgment against me false;
My arrow-wound is deadly, though I am free from transgression.”

What man is like Job,
Who drinks mockery like water;

Who makes common cause with evildoers,
And goes with those who are wicked?

For he says, “A man gains nothing
When he is in God’s favor.”

Therefore, men of understanding, listen to me;
Wickedness be far from God,
Wrongdoing, from Shaddai!

For [God] pays mortals according to their actions,
And provides for people according to their conduct;

For God surely does not act wickedly;
Shaddai does not pervert justice.

Who placed the earth in God’s charge?
Who ordered the entire world?

If [God] but intends it,
Spirit and breath can be recalled;

All flesh would at once expire,
And humankind return to dust.

If you would understand, listen to this;
Give ear to what I say.

Would one who hates justice govern?
Would you condemn the Just Mighty One?

Would you call a king a scoundrel,
Nobles, wicked?

[God] is not partial to princes;
The honorable are not preferred to the wretched;
For all of them are the work of God’s hands.

Some die suddenly in the middle of the night;
People are in turmoil and pass on;
Even heroes are removed—not by human hands.

For God’s eyes are upon everyone’s ways,
Observing their every step.

Neither darkness nor gloom offers
A hiding-place for evildoers.

There is no set time for anyone
To appear before God in judgment.

The mighty are shattered without number
And others set in their place.

Truly, [God] knows their deeds;
Night is over, and they are crushed.

The wicked are struck down
Where people can see,

Because they acted disloyally
And have not understood any of God’s ways;

Thus the cry of the poor is admitted;
The cry of the needy is heard.

When [God] is silent, who will condemn?
If the divine face becomes hidden, who will see it,
Be it nation or person?

No one impious rules anymore,
Nor do those who ensnare the people.

Has anyone said to God,
“I will bear [my punishment] and offend no more.

What I cannot see You teach me.
If I have done iniquity, I shall not do so again”?

Should [God] requite as you see fit?
But you have acted with disdain!
You must decide, not I;
Speak what you know.

Men of understanding say to me,
Wise men who hear me,

“Job does not speak with knowledge;
His words lack understanding.”

Would that Job were tried to the limit
For answers that befit those who are evil.

He adds to his sin;
He increases his transgression among us;
He multiplies his statements against God.